Nepalese woman pulled out alive from debris by Indian rescuers

KATHMANDU: A Nepalese woman was miraculously rescued alive by Indian rescuers 50 hours after being buried under the rubble following the devastating earthquake that jolted the country, killing over 5,000 people.

Sunita Sitoula, who was trapped under the rubble after the powerful temblor brought down a five-storey building in Basundhara of Maharajgunj here, was rescued alive by India's National Disaster Response Force ( NDRF) personnel yesterday.

The survivor, who was rushed to a nearby hospital, has now taken refuge at a local school with her husband and two sons who managed to escape unhurt, eKantipur reported today.

"It feels like I have come into a different world," said Sitoula.

NDRF assistant commandant Kulish Anand said: "We got the information that a lady is stuck between two slabs. There is some cavity and she is alive.

"Firstly, we stabilised the particular area and then we gave some life saving medicine to that particular lady. After stabilising her, we just took her out."

Hundreds of people are still trapped under tonnes of debris in the Kathmandu Valley and the worst-affected remote mountainous areas, as rescue workers are desperately searching for survivors of the Saturday's 7.9-magnitude earthquake.

NDRF rescuers and Indian Air Force personnel have now begun reaching areas beyond Kathmandu Valley near Pokhara.

India today sent six more teams of NDRF to Nepal, taking the total number of NDRF teams to 16 from 10 who were already engaged in rescue operations there for the last few days.

Each NDRF team has about 45 personnel. NDRF rescuers are at present deployed in areas like Tanu Hospital, Balajutra, Balkhu, Goodbal, Brijeshwari, Chavmati, Vasundranmunatal, Maharajganj, Gangabhu and Shobha Bhagwati Bridge.